AH, summer days a time for seaside trips and family picnics - oh yes, and wasps.

You may have noticed that we appear to have more of the striped insects than usual this year, dive bombing us the minute we step outside with as much as a packet of crisps let alone to enjoy a spot of al fresco dining.

Therefore, instead of a relaxing outdoor experience we end up spending most of our time waving our arms around "a la Magnus Pike" in an effort to keep the creatures at bay.

But our efforts are futile as even citronella candles appear to hold no fear for the wasp which it would seem is on a mission to end its days drunkenly at the bottom of a glass of beer or bogged down in the taramasalata.

The reason for this onslaught is that we are succeeding in creating the right environment for insects.

According to experts UK wasp levels are at a height not seen for 20 years with the rise down to new eco-friendly farming methods.

Retired animal behaviour and ecology lecturer, Michael Archer, has been studying the insects for over 40 years and believes intensive agriculture and pesticide use was the reason for a drop in numbers since the 1980s.

He says that the proliferation of countryside stewardship schemes and other environmentally-friendly practices in recent years are encouraging insects.

It is a development which bodes well for British wildlife, the wasp being a particular favourite meal for farmland birds. This is good news, although it is a fact that is unlikely to make someone whose ice cream has become a magnet for wasps rejoice.

But it could be worse, much worse.

Apart from the nuisance factor and the chance of being stung - although for some people this can be a very serious matter - wasps do not really "bug" us that much, and come the end of the summer they will be gone.

We could find ourselves in a country where a "plague" really is something of biblical proportions, and not just a few insects flying around.

The African state of Chad is appealing for international aid after swarms of locusts have reached the country after eating their way across north-west Africa.

Chad's resources are already stretched by the influx of refugees from western Sudan and now the locusts bring the threat of famine in the worst swarms for 15 years.

And Chad is not on its own, other countries have been badly affected. In Mauritania for example officials have estimated some 80% of the harvest has been lost.

Locusts can eat their own weight in food every day, with a single swarm able to consume as much food as several thousands of people.

Our battle against the wasp and our picnic is nothing by comparison.

Sheila Coleman is a partner in Coleman Roberts Communications sheila.coleman@ntlworld.com